DrownSoda

I absolutely agree. Having struggled with an eating disorder in the past, as well as knowing several female friends with anorexia, I know how the Hollywood image of sexiness impacts one’s perception of their own body. Research does confirm this as well.

That being said, and I’m very sorry if this sounds crass, I find it nice to look up to sexy Hollywood stars. Camille Paglia, my personal muse as a writer, regards Classic Hollywood stars as pagan idols. She suggests they should be revered; not necessarily emulated.

It would be nice to see a balance where we can admire the beauty of celebrities and other glamour idols, without trying to mimic their oft-unhealthy habits. Can this ever be achieved? I do wonder that often…

I’ll have to look into this fascinating study. Thank you for the suggestion.

Thank you Munjeera! As a writer, I only scold when necessary. My objective here aligns with the integrity of The Artifice: to enlighten and entertain.

The first half of the article was lengthy because I wanted to focus on the war of toys. My goal was to discuss both the war on toys and the art of toys, and I hope I expressed a balance of ideas.

I think it’s important that people understand that many people subvert gender norms and many other don’t. I feel that recent coverage over gender stereotyping often implies that gender norms are oppressive. In fact, they are in many cases. But other times they are simply norms that a general population inhabit. Let’s celebrate those who naturally follow this script as well as those who subvert it.

Also, I am fascinated by the concept of toy preference among transgender and intersex children. But, as Munjeera confirms, this is a topic for another article. There is so much that can be examined here, and the research in that area seems scant (based on my recent investigations). If anyone has articles they like to share on this topic, I’d love to hear it!

I love Christina Hoff Sommers! In fact, I recently applied to be her research assistant over the summer. Thanks for sharing!

Thank you! Although I’m discussing the “norm” with toy preference, I was a boy who played with Sky Dancers frequently. Does anyone remember those? They were the coolest toys, but they may have been considered hazardous and consequentially recalled 🙁

Thank you LC. Honestly, I felt that the info on toys and gender correspondence was repetitive, but I expanded on these issues based upon recommendations. It just goes to show: sometimes you’re your own best critic. I’m sorry you felt scolded, but I like to taunt my readers a bit 😉 There’s so much to say on this topic, and I fully encourage people to upstage this article!!

Riccio–amazing article! I do share Blephen75’s critique of the statement: “Thus, for Nietzsche, these scientific revelations proved his belief in life as meaningless.” As you explain that these truth systems are human creations to validate human existence, in reference to religion (and more specifically Christianity), I think it would also help to delve into the distinction between scientific fact and the invention of human logic. Perhaps rephrasing this statement into something like: “Thus, for Nietzsche, these scientific inquiries corroborated his analysis of the futility of human existence.” And then from there perhaps discuss the paradox of scientific revelations as it pertains to human truths and the human invention of logic. I love the concept of fate and free will that you focus on towards the end of the article. Your conclusion was very cohesive and compelling. As a fellow Nietzsche enthusiast, I’m particularly found of his seminal work “Thus Spoke Zarathustra” and the quote “shatter the tablets” (in reference to Moses, and of course translated differently among several scholars). I think that quote is especially relevant to this article.

I’ll admit, this is the first article I’ve read about the Nintendo Switch (though I did watch the trailer recently). I think the voice chat feature could definitely be a make or break situation for the upcoming system. I, for one, am very much looking forward to its ability to be used as a handheld console. Perhaps I am an outlier, but I much prefer the physicality of a handheld device (as an avid user of the DS) over touch screen games. Regardless, I can’t wait to test all the features on the Switch!